Potted plant container

ABSTRACT

A sleeve like container for wrapping a potted plant or floral display wherein the sleeve is formed from an integral, suitably cut blank of sheet material joined at two sides thereof to form an open ended container, the container having a tapered side wall. The container is shaped to support a pot holding a plant or floral display. A window formed in the side wall of the container provides access to the pot thereby enabling convenient placement of a label or for reading a label previously affixed to the pot.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to plant and floraldisplay carrying and protective devices and, more particularly, tosleeves for potted plants and floral displays.

[0002] It is the practice in the wholesale plant industry to placepotted plants, especially those in four or six inch pots, paper sleeves,prior to transportation of the plant from the grower to the distributorand, in turn from the distributor to the retailer. The sleeve is usuallyformed from a single blank of kraft paper glued at edges to form asuitably shaped open ended sleeve. The sleeve is open at top and bottomand the round opening at the bottom has a diameter that is smaller thanthat of the opening at the top. As a result, the typical plant pot,having a tapered side wall, fits readily into the sleeve where it issecurely held. In most cases, about an inch or more of the tapered sidewall of the pot extends from the sleeve bottom opening.

[0003] The sleeve protects the plant during transport and, in addition,the top of the sleeve affords a convenient handle for employees movingthe plant during various phases of the transportation process. In thisregard, the technique of grasping the sleeve near the top thereof, knownas “pulling”, enables one to move the potted plant quickly andefficiently while substantially reducing the likelihood of damage to theplant.

[0004] A widespread practice in modern commerce is the use of bar codelabels on goods. Such labels, the plant industry known a “SKU” or “UPC”labels, can contain the bar code and other information such as theidentity of the retailer and the of type of plant. In many cases, theretailer receives the sleeved plant and must affix the label to the pot.Since it is desirable to place the label on the pot at a locationconvenient to a bar code reader and the most convenient location is onthe pot side wall, the sleeve presents a problem.

[0005] Since the sleeve covers a substantial amount of the pot sidewall, there is often not enough room to affix the label with the sleevein place. Removing the sleeve is not a viable option since removing andreplacing it are time consuming and expensive. Thus, the retailer isgenerally unwilling to remove the sleeve. Instead, a common practice isto tear enough of the sleeve to expose the pot side wall sufficientlyfor application of the label. This weakens the sleeve and, in somecases, the sleeve becomes so weakened that if an attempt is made to pullthe potted plant, the plant falls through the weakened sleeve, withconsequent damage to both pot and plant. Of course, where the sleeve hasbeen torn to permit label placement, and the sleeve is no longersuitable for pulling, labor costs increase because the potted plant nowrequires additional handling.

[0006] In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a plant sleeve thathas the requisite strength to support a potted plant while enablingconvenient access to the pot side wall for label placement and reading.Desirably, such a sleeve would be low in cost and effective in use.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0007] According to the present invention there is provided a sleevelike container for wrapping a potted plant or floral display wherein thesleeve is formed from an integral, suitably cut blank of sheet materialjoined at two sides thereof to form an open ended container, thecontainer having a tapered side wall. The container is shaped to supporta pot holding a plant or floral display. A window formed in the sidewall of the container provides access to the pot thereby enablingconvenient placement of a label or for reading a label previouslyaffixed to the pot.

[0008] The sleeve of the present invention affords several advantagesImportantly, it permits convenient access to the pot without requiringremoval of the sleeve, or tearing of the sleeve, for placement of alabel. In addition, the sleeve enables the label to be read during thetransportation process by a bar code reader conveniently, without anyneed for tearing the sleeve material. Thus, the window formed in thesleeve represents economical and effective solution to an ongoingproblem.

[0009] Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example theprinciples of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0010]FIG. 1 is an illustrative view of the sleeve of the presentinvention showing a portion of a pot supported within the sleeve, thepot including a label (shown in phantom);

[0011]FIG. 2 is a plan view of the sleeve of the present inventionshowing a portion of a pot supported within the sleeve, the potincluding a label (shown in phantom);

[0012]FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the of the sleeve of the presentinvention showing a portion of a pot supported within the sleeve, thepot including a label (shown in phantom);

[0013]FIG. 4 is a plan view of a blank of sheet material used in formingthe sleeve of the present invention; and

[0014]FIG. 5 is a plan view of another embodiment of the sleeve of thepresent invention showing a portion of a pot supported within thesleeve, the pot including a label (shown in phantom).

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0015] The present invention may be embodied in other specific formswithout departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. Thedescribed embodiments are to be considered in respects only asillustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is,therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription. All changes, which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims, are to be embraced within their scope.

[0016] In the following detailed description and in the several figuresof the drawings, like elements are identified with like referencenumerals.

[0017] As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, theinvention is embodied in a novel sleeve like container for wrapping apotted plant or floral display. With reference to FIGS. 1-4 of thedrawings, there is shown a generally frustoconically shaped sleeve 10.The sleeve is formed from an integral, suitably cut blank 9 of sheetmaterial (FIG. 4). The blank 9 includes a panel 11 having a firstportion 13 on one side thereof and a second portion 15 on an oppositeside. The sleeve 10 is formed when the first portion 13 overlaps and isattached to the second portion 15. Attachment of the portions can beaccomplished in a conventional manner such as gluing and, for thispurpose conventional glue strips, such as the glue strips 15 a-15 c, areprovided.

[0018] The blank 9 includes an edge 14 and an opposite edge 14. In apreferred embodiment, the edge 14 has a length L that is about twice aslong as a length 1 of the edge 14 a. In addition, the length 1 of theedge 14 a is about equal to a length 11 of the first portion 13 and ofthe second portion 15. When the portions 13 and 14 are attached in themanner shown in FIG. 1, the sleeve 10 has an upper opening 14 c, definedby the upper edge 14, and a bottom opening 19 that is defined by thebottom edge 14 a. As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the upper opening 14 cis substantially larger than the bottom opening 19. With the sleeve 10thus assembled, a pot, such as the pot 21, can be inserted convenientlyinto the sleeve 10 where it can be protected during transport. In thisregard, the upper parts of the portions 13 and 15 provide an excess ofmaterial 18 where the sleeve 10 can be grasped for pulling the pottedplant.

[0019] In a typical arrangement and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pot21, usually having a tapered side wall, can be inserted into the sleeve10 so that the bottom portion thereof extends through the bottom opening19 of the sleeve 10. A window 20 is formed in the sleeve 10 to enableready access to the pot 21 so that a label 22 can be affixed thereto. Itmay be noted that after the label has been affixed the pot 21, thewindow 22 enables bar code reader access to the label 22 without anynecessity of tearing any portion of the sleeve 10.

[0020] Considering now the window 22 in greater detail, the window isdefined by extensions of edge 25 on the first portion 13 and acorresponding edge 25 of the second portion 15. At location M (FIG. 1) aleg 27 extends downwardly from the edge 23 at an angle of about 135° tojoin a generally arcuately shaped notch 27 a which, in turn, isintegrally connected to a third leg 27 b. The third leg 27 b extendsfrom the notch 27 a to the bottom of the sleeve 10 where it joins thepanel 11. In a similar manner, at a location N (FIG. 1) a leg 29 extendsdownwardly from the edge 25 at an angle of about 135° to join agenerally arcuately shaped notch 29 a which, in turn, is integrallyconnected to a third leg 29 b. The third leg 29 b extends from the notch29 a to the bottom of the sleeve 10 where it joins the panel 11. Asshown in FIG. 4, the notch 27 a includes a first sight leg 27 c and asecond straight leg 27 d while the arcuate leg 29 a includes a firststraight leg 29 c a second straight leg 29 d. It will be noted that thelegs 27 c and 29 c are located laterally of their respective notches andthe legs 27 c and 29 c are longer, respectively, than the legs 27 d and29 d.

[0021] It will be apparent from the foregoing that the leg 27, the notch27 a and the leg 27 b, in cooperation with the corresponding leg 29, thenotch 29 a and the leg 29 b help to define the window 20 in a novelmanner. Those familiar with the manufacturing arts recognize that theprovision of the window 20 can be formed conveniently in plantsupporting sleeves at low cost.

[0022] Referring now to FIG. 5 there is shown a sleeve 10 which isanother embodiment of the present invention. The sleeve 10 is similar instructure and function to the sleeve 10 having, for example, a panel 111including an upper edge 114 and a bottom edge 114 a defining a bottomopening 119 through which a lower portion of a pot 121 extends. A window120 is formed in the panel 111 to afford access to the pot 121 foraffixation thereto of a label 122, or to permit convenient reading ofthe label 122 without any need to tear away any part of the sleeve 100.

[0023] It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that thesleeves 10 and 100 are useful with pots of varying sizes, especiallyfour and six inch pots. With respect to the material from which thesleeves are constructed, no limitations are intended. Thus, by way ofexample, the sheet material used in forming the sleeves can be composedof paper (untreated or treated in any manner), metal foil, cloth(natural or synthetic), denim, burlap, polymer films or combinationsthereof.

[0024] From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the sleeveprovided by the invention provides an efficient and convenient techniquefor enabling access to a sleeved pot for affixation or reading of alabel, without any need to tear the sleeve material.

[0025] It will be evident that there are additional embodiments andapplications which are not disclosed in the detailed description butwhich clearly fall within the scope of the present invention. Thespecification is, therefore, intended not to be limiting, and the scopeof the invention is to be limited only by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sleeve for wrapping a potted plant or floral display, comprising: a blank of sheet material joined at two sides thereof to form a container, said container having a tapered side wall, said container further being open at a top and at a bottom thereof, wherein said container is shaped to support a pot holding a plant or floral display; and a window formed in the side wall of said container to provide access to said pot for attachment of a label thereto or for reading a label previously affixed thereto.
 2. The sleeve according to claim 1, wherein said blank of sheet material includes a first portion and a second portion whereby said container is formed when said first portion and said second portion are attached together.
 3. The sleeve according to claim 2, wherein said first portion includes means for attaching said first portion and said second portion.
 4. The sleeve according to claim 1, wherein said container has a frustoconical shape.
 5. The sleeve according to claim 1, wherein said container includes a top opening and a bottom opening, said top opening having a diameter greater than the diameter of said bottom opening.
 6. The sleeve according to claim 2, wherein said blank of sheet material first portion and second portion each include a leading edge wherein each leading edge includes a leg helping to define said window.
 7. The sleeve according to claim 6, wherein each leg includes a notch for helping to define said window.
 8. The sleeve according to claim 6, wherein each leading edge and its respective leg forms an angle of about 135°.
 9. A method of wrapping a potted plant or a floral display with a sheet of material, comprising the steps of: providing a blank of flexible, sheet material; forming said material into an open ended container having a tapered side wall wherein said tapered side wall is shaped to support a pot holding a plant or floral display; and forming a window in the side wall of said container to provide access to said pot for attachment of a label thereto or for reading a label previously attached thereto.
 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein said first forming step includes attaching one portion of said blank of sheet material to another portion thereof.
 11. The method according to claim 9, wherein said first forming step includes bending said blank of sheet material into a frustoconical shape.
 12. The method according to claim 9, wherein said first forming step includes providing a blank of sheet material having a first portion and a second portion wherein each portion including a leading edge and each leading edge includes a leg.
 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein said providing step includes forming a notch in each leg thereby help in defining said window.
 14. An integral, suitably cut blank of sheet material adapted to be formed into a sleeve for wrapping a potted plant or floral display, comprising: a trapazoidally shaped panel, said panel including a first edge and a parallel, opposite edge wherein said second edge includes a notch therein formed.
 15. The blank according to claim 14, wherein said second edge includes a pair of notches therein formed.
 16. The blank according to claim 15, wherein each one of said notches includes a first straight leg and a longer second straight leg.
 17. The blank according to claim 16, wherein each one of said notches includes an arcuate shaped portion interconnecting said first straight leg and said second straight leg.
 18. The blank according to claim 14, wherein said first edge has a length about twice the length of said opposite second edge.
 19. The blank according to claim 14, wherein said panel includes a pair of side edges the lengths of each one thereof being about equal to the length of said second edge.
 20. The blank according to claim 14, wherein said panel includes a glue strip. 